Homebirth General Discussion #2

[~Stoked~]

Hi girls.. Have been meaning to post more often in here but having a six month old BF bub and being pregnant is tiring work!

Marcellus: I am going through the CMP too!! Had my last bub in dec at home and my midwife was so so good! Can't wait to do it all again! They provided my pool in the end because all the other women that were due around the same time had their bubs early, so they had spares, but otherwise you have to hire your own. Do you know which midwife you have been allocated yet?

[Ilithyia]

Hi All!

Thought it was time I came in and said Hi!

I am 10 weeks pregnant with baby #3 and am due around Christmas time.

This will be our first homebirth and I am already very, very excited!

I met with my Midwife a couple of weeks ago and she seem's perfect!

Anyhoo...I will try and keep up with you girls!

Looking forward to getting to you know all!
x

[Cassius2]

hi sara and welcome!

woo hoo for the HB! this is going to be my first HB too! pretty excited and also really excited that my DD can be there if she wants. i used to live in brisbane!! have to admit that i do miss the place alot...although it's been a good four years since i lived there so no doubt has changed alot and i probably couldnt find my way around anymore lol!

[onthefly]

Yeah, I have a place but still have to have my interview to asses my suitability for midwifery care. I guess it should be fine, just want to get it out of the way so it's official. And I'm keen to meet my midwife. Her name's Susan Cudlipp Stoked.
So there's somewhere you can hire pools if they run out? That's good to know.

yeah, it seems like as long as your midwife (and you) is happy then they're much more flexible than OBs/hospitals. One thing I was really interested to know was about going post-dates. Seems they get antsy after 42 weeks also. I really don't want to go that long again - hopefully it wont' be an issue.

Hi Sara and congratulations

[~Stoked~]

Oh Marcellus you will LOVE your midwife! She is also my midwife!! hehe! She is the greatest!... they won't even look at my application til i am 12 weeks but i have already told Sue and she is very happy to be there for me again! I was so sad to say goodbye after our journey together and told her it wouldn't be long til i'll be calling her again... i don't think she expected it to be THIS soon!

Hello and congratulations to everyone else!! It is such an exciting journey, homebirth is just amazing and i wish i could convince everyone to give it a go so no one missed out on such an awesome experience!

xxx

[Cricket]

Hey ladies! Just popping in to see what everyone's up to. It's amazing how many more women there are having/considering homebirth compared with a few years ago when I was expecting DD3. She was a home waterbirth, which went wonderfully, by the way. DD4 was a hospital birth, due to GBS, but this bean will be a homebirth again, if we can manage it!
Stoked - I hear you on the fatigue! My littlest is just about 10 months old, and I'm just over 5 months along now and the first couple of months were HARD! The whole family also got the flu and bad colds, etc. at that time. But don't worry - it will get better. I'm feeling pretty much like myself again now.
Hope everyone is doing well!

[onthefly]

Oh yay, I'm so gald to hear that Stoked! I bet she'll be surprised to hear from you so soon. Oh boy at being pregnant with a baby - you gals must be knackered!

ETA - just realised that "being pregnant with a baby" is a bit ambiguous... d'oh. you know what I mean right?

[meow]

i wish i could convince everyone to give it a go so no one missed out on such an awesome experience!

I feel the same way. I'm still surprised and saddened by how 'revolutionary' homebirth is perceived and how many women say "that sounds fantastic, but it's not for me". Why not??? It's not a political statement, it's not some crazy-wacked-out-hippy-nutcase idea. it's normal. It's about normal women and families birthing their babies in a normal way. No fear, no drama, just birth

I can't wait to have my homebirth!!! I was crazy not to have one last time and I'm just glad the birth still went well. Bring on the homebirth

[meow]

Ugh. I'm currently still booked into the birth centre till after the 20 week scan. I had been told I would deemed "low risk" this time due to having such a straight forward pregnancy and drug & intervention free labour last time... but just got a call that the OB who looked at my file wants a face-to-face appointment before classing me as low risk due to the fact that I had a big-ish baby last time!!!!! He was 4.3kg- not even 10 pounds FFS!!! SOOOOO glad to be ditching the hospital system this time. SO SO SO SO SO glad!!!

[~kaos~]

I'm still surprised and saddened by how 'revolutionary' homebirth is perceived and how many women say "that sounds fantastic, but it's not for me". Why not??? It's not a political statement, it's not some crazy-wacked-out-hippy-nutcase idea. it's normal. It's about normal women and families birthing their babies in a normal way. No fear, no drama, just birth

I KNOW!

For me, homebirth is just a sensible choice, especially with a small family. The fact that I have my appointments at home and don't have to arrange babysitting or drag my kids to the hosp for every appointment (and have to endure the big wait) is such a hugething. That when I go into labour, there isn't a big contingency plan for what is going to happen with the kids..... The practicalities are one of the biggest bonuses for me. If my midwife is running late for an appointment, no big deal, I'll just keep doing the housework, or playing the with kids or resting And like you said, no fear, no drama, just birth

[meow]

The fact that I have my appointments at home and don't have to arrange babysitting or drag my kids to the hosp for every appointment (and have to endure the big wait) is such a hugething.

Oh I hear you! I have had two birth centre appointments so far. Both about 40mins late by which time I was dealing with a tantruming toddler while getting through the appointment- not to mention paying for expensive hospital parking. My home midwife appointment was about an hour late but she had called to check that was okay as she was running late that day and then she got lost (everyone does first time they come to our place) and it was no big deal- just hung out with my son And then when he did get cranky during our LONG chat ( ) I coudl get him more toys and food etc while still chatting.

so when asked about pain relief (cause obviously that's what EVERYONE first asks about ) i told her that my MW can do water injections if we want, and she just laughed out loud and goes, 'oh that's a good placebo...ha ha ha...oohh a bit of saline (and insert drumroll for emphasis on how ignorant she is) IN THE LEG. i didnt even smile back and went, yeah, not really and left it at that lol. THEN she tried to talk DH out of it cause he didnt want to be in the room when i got the blood drawn (he has a thing about those blood vials lol). and she's like, you know, birth is gory...you're not going to handle it. i was furious. i will make a complaint to my regular GP as i found it really offensive. never had trouble before at that clinic, so was pretty bummed.

do you have to keep the booking at the BC? i cant imagine how they would class you as high risk?? surely it would all be conjecture on how 'big' your next beautiful bub is going to be??

That doctor sounds like a nightmare!!!! You don't even NEED pain relief and if she hasn't heard of sterile water injections then she needs to just butt out!! Do tell your regular doctor about her.

I don't have to stay booked into the birth centre and I'm dropping out after the 20 week scan (so close now I figure I'll get my freebie) so I wont even need to see the ob. It's just really annoyed me that this is how they treat the women that birth there. So mad. I think he would say I would need "close monitoring" for measurements and possibly an extra ultrasound if I measure large, and must have the GD test. So cranky- there is no reason to think I can't birth this next baby even if they are bigger than the last one.

Have you seen the trailer for the documentary Face of Birth.... there was an interesting bit where they say there are 3 types of women that choose homebirth. The 1st have had a bad experience in the hospital system, the 2nd are the fringe hippy type and the 3rd are really educated about birth. I fall mainly into the 3rd category with a little bit of the 1st too. Which leads me to think that women who say that "it's not for me" don't fit into any of these categories! I think a lot of the time women may not have a great experience in the hospital but don't actually realise that birth can be better than that. In a way ignorance is bliss for them but it's so sad that they are short changing themselves.

I'm really looking forward to my homebirth too (end August). I'm in a public program so fingers crossed there... I have a pretty supportive team though which is good. I must admit I haven't shared this news around much in my social circles because I know that a lot of people wouldn't be supportive. I'm kind of just quietly doing it my way.

Thanks so much for that! Haven't seen that trailer but it sounds really good- really helped me "place" myself too. I'm like you- more of the 3rd with a little of the 1st. And I think in someone else's eyes my birth would ahve been greta but being educated I know it could have been better without the unnecessary hospital rules.

I've been telling everyone I'm having a HB though I'm a little tired of hearing "Well good luck with it going to plan". I think people think I'm being unrealistic and I'll have to transfer. It's annoying arguing against "but this could go wrong" with people who are uninformed too. One friend asked me for tips on the best place in Melb for a natural waterbirth though- I told her, at home

Is anyone else in a belly buddies group on here? How do you find it? I'm getting a little tired of the lack of understanding about homebirth and birth in general. I mentioned my trauma from stitches last time too and not one person commented on it. I find the response to birth trauma is much better with homebirthers.